The L.A. Times music blog

2009 Grammy Awards live!

February 8, 2009 | 6:30
pm

Live-blogging the 2009 Grammy Awards

8:38 p.m.: Parting thoughts: Another Grammys, another year without any surprises. When it comes to album of the year, always pick old over innovative. With "Raising Sand," Robert Plant and Alison Krauss crafted an engrossing and timeless country-influenced album, one that certainly deserved to be rewarded for best contemporary folk album.

But album of the year? Not against Radiohead's "In Rainbows," an album that took more chances, pairing Radiohead's electronic and studio experimentations with some of the group's warmest songs to date.

A year after awarding Herbie Hancock's "River: The Joni Letters" album of the year over Kanye West's "Graduation," the Grammys had the opportunity to show a little more relevancy. But they missed it. Instead of awarding record of the year to M.I.A.'s arresting "Paper Planes," the trophy again went to Plant & Krauss for "Please Read the Letter." But give them a point for giving best new artist to Adele over the Jonas Brothers.

The Grammys also felt a bit more bloated this year. Ten awards were given out during the telecast, which was heavy on music performances -- some of them puzzling. U2 opened the show with an electrifying performance of its latest single, "Get on Your Boots." However, the song won't even be eligible for a Grammy until next year. And Stevie Wonder and the Jonas Brothers paired up for a clunky, cross-generational performance.

However, there was plenty of good music as well. There's no denying that Carrie Underwood gave a blistering performance of "Last Name," and that Kanye West and Estelle had a blast with "American Boy." Justin Timberlake and T.I. were strong with "Dead and Gone," with Timberlake flashing a bit more soul than usual.

8:34 p.m.: While the album of the year win was being
announced, this bit of news came in from L.A. Now, regarding the latest
on Chris Brown and Rihanna:

R&B singer Chris
Brown has been booked tonight on suspicion of making felony criminal
threats in connection with an incident involving his girlfriend, pop
singer Rihanna, according to Los Angeles Police Department sources
familiar with the case.

Brown was being booked at the Wilshire Division station and is expected to post $50,000 bail, sources said.

Los Angeles police said earlier they planned to detain Chris Brown for questioning on an alleged domestic violence assault. Read more here.

8:27 p.m.:
A completely anticlimactic win for "Raising Sand," which was foretold
the moment Grammy nominations were announced. Plant: "In the old days,
we would have called this selling out, but I think it’s a good way to
spend a Sunday." That's five wins for the pair, who also scored Grammys
for record of the year and best contemporary folk album.

8:24 p.m.: Album of the year: Robert Plant & Alison Krauss: "Raising Sand."

8:21 p.m.: Plant & Krauss singing "Rich Woman" and then
into "Gone, Gone, Gone." Pretty mesmerizing vocal interplay, completely
haunting song, and one of the best performances of the night. Can't
fault it in any way, but Radiohead's "In Rainbows" was sill more
innovative.

8:18 p.m.: Zooey Deschanel introducing Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, who will most likely win album of the year.

8:04 p.m.: Gary Sinise fills the Tom Hanks role this year,
introducing one of the more "important" moments of the show, Lil
Wayne's Katrina-inspired "Tie My Hands," a restrained, respectful
performance from Lil Wayne, and one that nicely avoids having to bleep
out a bunch of words on one of his nominated singles. It rolls straight
into Allen Toussaint's "Big Chief," giving it a celebratory finish.

7:55 p.m.: A look to the past again, with an oddly short Bo
Diddley tribute, featuring -- surprise -- John Mayer. Hey, where have
we seen B.B. King and John Mayer perform before? Right. It was the last time there was a Grammy event on national television. Let's get to some awards, Recording Academy. Right now, no reason for this to be 3.5 hours.

7:51 p.m.: Say, when was the last award? All the way back at 7:06 p.m.

7:48 p.m.: Neil Diamond, the MusiCares person of the year, leading a crowd sing-along with "Sweet Caroline."

7:40 p.m.: Four Tops tribute, led by Smokey Robinson, Ne-Yo
and Jamie Foxx. Pretty smooth renditions of "I Can't Help Myself" and
"Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch." Prior to the performance, Recording Academy
head Neil Portnow advocated that Obama, a two-time Grammy winner,
establish a secretary of the arts.

7:36 p.m.: UPDATE on Chris Brown and Rihanna: Brown arrived
at the Wilshire Division station about 7:15 p.m., accompanied by
another man. The pair drove into a parking lot behind the station on
Venice Boulevard, east of La Brea Avenue, in a black Escalade. Brown
and the man entered through a back door where a posted sign stated for
“authorized personnel only.” Police are expected to release a statement
later this evening. Read the rest here.

7:33 p.m.: Justin Timberlake and T.I. with "Dead and
Gone," a surprisingly successful live performance, thanks to its slow
build with orchestral and rock flourishes. Timberlake sounded much
better here than he did earlier in the show, and brought a bit of soul
to his vocals.

7:21 p.m.: Finally! Radiohead + the USC marching band
performing "15 Step." It's the performance that should have opened the
show. The Spirit of Troy supplied a smattering of rhythms, and Thom
Yorke gave the most kinetic performance of the night, shaking and
twitching with every beat. Jonny Greenwood's guitar parts sent spacey
signals through the rhythmic haze.

7:09 p.m: Crisis averted. Sugarland's Jennifer Nettles simply
performed backing vocals to Adele's fine heartbreak tale "Chasing
Pavements." Sugarland received far more air time, however -- for a song
the act has been performing at awards shows for well over a year.

7:07 p.m.: And now a pairing nobody ever asked for and nobody ever wanted: Sugarland and Adele. How will it compare to the Beyonce/Sugarland performance at the American Music Awards?

7:06 p.m.: Best male pop vocal performance: John Mayer's "Say."
A sappy song, but nothing in the category was really worth rewarding,
and Grammy voters are going to give a few awards to Mayer a year.

7:05 p.m.: Jack Black and jazz star Charlie Haden, in the oddest pairing of the night, but not as odd as Keely Smith and Kid Rock. Ooops. Not an odd pairing at all. Thanks, Miguel. Charlie is Jack's father in law, a tidbit we missed.

6:55 p.m. Paul McCartney performing "I Saw Her Standing
There" with the Foo Fighters Dave Grohl on drums. This is stop No. 2 on
the Paul McCartney cred-rebuilding tour, a trek that was put in place
after he performed at the 2005 Super Bowl. First stop was "The Colbert
Report." Next will be Coachella. Grohl was a non-entity, but if there's
a Grammy event, a Foo Fighter will be present.

6:50 p.m.: M.I.A. performing "Paper Planes" on the day her
baby is due, briefly. Please, M.I.A. -- the Grammys aren't that
important. Rest. Then straight into "Swagga Like Us" with, in the words
of Queen Latifah, the "rap pack." Most of the clip was in black &
white, and everyone looks better in black and white. Lil Wayne looked
rather professional, Kanye sounded great, but all eyes were on M.I.A.,
as they are anytime she's on the stage.

6:49 p.m.: Only 70 minutes to go!

6:41 p.m.: Record of the year: Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, "Please Read the Letter." Yes, we wanted M.I.A. to win, too, but we knew that wasn't going to happen.
M.I.A., whose child is due today, has more important things to worry
about than a Grammy, anyway. Either way, it looks like we're set-up for
Coldplay vs. Plant/Krauss album-of-the-year showdown, as expected.

6:38 p.m.: So right now, here's a couple options for you. You
can listen to the Kenny Chesney ballad "Better As A Memory," or you can
read this L.A. Now story about the latest in the Chris Brown/Rihanna
story. Pop & Hiss is reading the story. Here's the intro:

Los
Angeles police said they plan to detain R&B singer Chris Brown for
questioning in connection with an alleged domestic violence assault
against his girlfriend, pop singer Rihanna, according to sources
familiar with the investigation.

Both stars canceled their performances at tonight's Grammy Awards.
The alleged incident is being investigated as a felony domestic
violence case. It was reported about 12:30 a.m. Sunday in Hancock Park.

Brown and Rihanna, whose full name is Robyn Rihanna Fenty, were
apparently in a car together and got into an argument on North June
Street, according to a Los Angeles Police Department statement. Brown
stopped the car, the two got out, and the argument escalated, according
to police.

6:33 p.m.: Adele wins best new artist, rightfully. The
Grammys would have opened themselves up for a lot of ridicule (OK, even
more) had they given the award to the JoBros, and Adele isn't nearly as
stuck in a 1960s-vibe as Duffy. This is one Grammy got right. Congrats,
Adele.

6:32 p.m.: Aside: Kanye West's "808s and Heartbreak" must must be nominated for album of the year for the 2010 Grammy Awards.

6:30 p.m.:Best moment of the night, comes courtesy of Mr. West (who else?): Introducing best new artist, West runs down some of the artists who have won the award in the past, adding, "But somehow, neither one of us."

6:28 p.m.: Luckily, Kanye West is here to save the day, erasing any bad Katy Perry memories. West and Estelle are getting all minimalist for "American Boy," and it's working.

6:24 p.m.: Katy Perry, "I Kissed A Girl." This seems to be all lip-synced Oh, Katy Perry. What do we do with you? Your bad girl shtick, your good girl background, your inability to sing, your giant fruit as stage props and your always photogenic outfits. But wasn't this supposed to be "my Grammy moment" contest, where people sang along to Perry? We saw glimpses of those videos, but that's it. Just glimpses. Time to retire that silly contest, Grammy, and time to retire "I Kissed A Girl."

6:16 p.m.: Coldplay: Best rock album. If that's a consolation prize for not winning album of the year, fine. But in all honesty, "Viva La Vida" is better than most everything else in the rock field.

6:15 p.m.: Blink-182 is back! Because all the music they've made since has been a disaster.

6:13 p.m.: From "Burnin' Up" into "Superstition." This isn't making any generation look good. Can we cut to a new episode of "The Mentalist," CBS? Roll Grammy credits! Cut to commercial. Start new episode of "The Mentalist." Simon Baker is in a field 100 miles out of San Diego. Robin Tunney is giving him a dirty look. A dead lizard is holding a human finger in its mouth. Scene! Please.

6:09 p.m.: Had a scare. When the announcers mentioned Jason Mraz, I thought he was about to perform. Whew. But not sure this mess of a mash-up with the Jonas Brothers and Stevie Wonder is much better. The JoBros have definitely brought Wonder down to their level -- he's awkwardly screeching in a pitch that matches studio-hack guitar licks that permeate the JoBros.

5:56 p.m.: So this Miley and Taylor duet. I'm half expecting this performance to end with the announcement that the Recording Academy will unleash a limited edition series of Grammy Princess Dolls tomorrow morning. Make it so, Grammy -- $12.99 per doll, or $9.99 for Grammy Museum members. They'd sell better than this flat-footed teddy bear. My niece already wants one.

5:50 p.m.: KC (in the comment section) is upset I knocked the Al Green/Timberlake/Boyz II Men performance, suggesting it was likely a fill-in for the absence of Rihanna and Chris Brown. Perhaps, but it was still a misfire, especially early in the telecast. Someone else should have been moved up, or the awards should have -- gasp -- ended a few minutes early.

5:47 p.m.: Kid Rock doing a medley, which is really no surprise, as his hit "All Summer Long" is more or less a giant medley.

5:43 p.m.: A songwriting award, Coldplay's "Viva La Vida" was the expected win here. With its strings and references to religion, revolution and all sorts of important-sounding things, Recording Academy voters weren't going to pass it up. The band also apologized for ripping of "Sgt. Pepper's" uniforms. There's a Joe Satriani joke in there.

5:42 p.m.: Song of the year. Let's go Adele!!! Nope. Coldplay.

5:38 p.m.: In the excitement after Underwood pretty electric performance, Pop & Hiss missed the award update (there are only 10 given on the air, pay attention!). Best country performance by a duo or group: Sugarland's "Stay."

5:30 p.m.: Underwood's handing the grit of the song on the Grammy stage pretty well, and her band certainly backed more fire than Coldplay. In fact, her supporting guitarist, the female soloist, stole the song with some scorching hot riffs. Readers, if you know who she is, leave a comment, please.

5:25 p.m.: Chris Martin gets joined by Jay-Z, giving Grammy viewers the remixed edition of "Lost." Then into "Viva La Vida" to pump some life into these Grammys. But not enough. This song has been a trophy-show staple over the past 12 months.

5:12 p.m.: Justin Timberlake introducing Boyz II Men, Al Green and Keith Urban (!?!) with a rather long-winded speech -- something about the general store stocking bait. Then into "Let's Stay Together." Timberlake is doing most of the singing here. This seemed like an odd fit to have as the second performance of the night. While Green is nominated, something a little more current would have been a better hook up top.

5:09 p.m: The Rock just told us the "Grammys are a way of life," and now he's giving a dramatic reading of Katy Perry's "I Kissed A Girl." Neither clever nor ironic.

5:04 p.m. Whitney Houston! Another preview of the Grammys in 2010. She said, "I should have worn my boots," referencing U2, and then uncomfortably pulled back her dress to reveal her full leg/thigh. And the award for best R&B album. No. Wait. Rather than announce the award winner, Houston took a moment to give a shout-out to Clive Davis, pausing a good few seconds between each word. "And .... now ... the Grammy for best ... R&B album:" Jennifer Hudson. Great to see Hudson performing and looking great after her recent tragedy, but this is not the best album of the bunch. That's Raphael Saadiq.

5:01 p.m.: Here we go, opening the 2009 awards with a Grammy preview of 2010. U2's performing "Get On Your Boots." How many noms are U2 up for? That's right, none. Radiohead, or even Coldplay, should have opened the show. Let one of the album of the year artists start the Grammys. Instead, Bono is singing with the lyrics to the song blasted on the screen behind him -- it's all set for inclusion in Rock Band or Guitar Hero.

4:49 p.m.: A minute or two from showtime. Updates on the Rihanna/Chris Brown situation will be posted as we have them. In the meantime, the live-blogging of the Grammys will begin now . . .

4:26 p.m.: Official statement from the Recording Academy regarding Rihanna:

"We have just been informed that Rihanna will not be attending tonight's 51st Annual GRAMMY Awards. We're sorry she is unable to join us this evening."

Brown and the woman were in a vehicle on North June street in the Hancock Park area of Los Angeles when, according to the victim, they became involved in an argument. After stopping his car, Brown and the woman got out and the argument escalated. The woman suffered visible injuries and identified Brown as her attacker.

The Los Angeles Police Department received a 911 call reporting the disturbance. When officers arrived they found the victim, but Brown had already left the scene. The LAPD is conducting an investigation into the incident.

Pop & Hiss has requested a comment from a Chris Brown rep.

4:12 p.m.: As for the awards: Robert Plant and Alison Krauss were among the big winners in the pre-show, taking the award for best country collaboration with vocals and best contemporary folk/American album. The two are up for album of the year, and will compete against Radiohead, Coldplay, Lil Wayne and Ne-Yo in the category. All the aforementioned artists won in the pre-show.

Radiohead's "In Rainbows" took best alternative album, Lil Wayne's "Lollipop" won for best rap song and Ne-Yo's "Miss Independent" won two awards -- best male R&B/vocal performance and best R&B song. Lil Wayne's "A Milli" won best rap solo performance, and he was also honored as part of "Swagga Like Us," an all-star collaboration that also includes Jay-Z, T.I. and Kanye West.

Best new artist nominee Adele won best female pop vocal performance for her "Chasing Pavements," and Coldplay's "Viva la Vida" won best pop performance by a duo or group with vocals. Daft Punk swept the dance/electronic categories, taking best electronic/dance album ("Alive 2007") and best dance recording ("Harder Better Faster Stronger").

George Strait's "Troubadour" took best country album. Also in the country field, Carrie Underwood won for best female country vocal performance.

4:02 p.m.: It's an hour away from showtime, and the biggest news right now is not who won, but who won't be performing. Entertainment Weekly reports that Rihanna and Chris Brown have been "involved in a car accident," and will not be appearing on tonight's Grammy telecast. There's still not too many details on the incident, but the EW report notes that the artists are "well."

3:39 p.m.: Producer of the year: Rick Rubin. His credits this year included "Death Magnetic" from Metallica and Neil Diamond's "Home Before Dark."

3:58 p.m.: Best rock instrumental goes to Zappa Plays Zappa, and Dweezil breaks down on the stage. Then The Boss trumps Coldplay in the best rock song category with his "Girls in Their Summer Clothes."

3:51 p.m.: Ah, there we go. Mayer gets his Grammy with "Gravity." Best solo rock vocal performance. You didn't think a Grammy pre-show could go into its third hour without a Mayer win, did you?

3:50 p.m.: Radiohead gets its second win of the night for best alternative album. The album of the year candidates are fairing well, with the exception of Ne-Yo.

3:49 p.m.: Best female pop vocal performance goes to Adele's "Chasing Pavements," a song she'll be performing this evening. She bested Katy Perry and Leona Lewis, and is far and away the best singer of the bunch. Meanwhile, Coldplay gets its first win of the night, best performance by a duo or group.

3:45 p.m.: We're in the stretch-run of the pre-show. Mary J. Blige's "Growing Pains" won for best contemporary album, besting Ne-Yo's "Year of the Gentleman." While "Year of the Gentleman" is considered a long-shot for album of the year, this should solidify any chance of it being an underdog.

3:44 p.m.: "Miss Independent' just won best R&B song. We apologize for the delay in updates.

3:37 p.m.: Scratch that. Best rap song goes to Lil Wayne's Lollipop."

3:33 p.m.: Best rap sung collaboration: "American Boy" featuring Kanye West. A little surprise here. This song takes the award over "Got Money" from Lil Wayne featuring T-Pain, and it deserves it. But maybe Grammy voters aren't going to embrace Lil Wayne in the same way they embraced Mr. West.

3:29 p.m.: Best country song: Jennifer Nettles for "Stay," an award for a song that was released way back in Sept. 2007.

3:24 p.m.: Plant/Krauss win again. "Killing the Blues," best country collaboration with vocal. That's two for them tonight -- err, today.

3:21 p.m.: Carrie Underwood wins for best female country vocal performance for "Last Name," a song she'll be singing in a few hours. She runs through Staples Center and is practically out of breath and near tears as she gives a quick acceptance speech. “There’s no way this could ever possibly on this planet get old," she says. She thanks God for “giving me a voice," and “giving me a vehicle like ‘American Idol.’” Credit Underwood for sticking around for her award rather than hanging on the red carpet.

3:16 p.m.: Plant/Krauss get their first win of the night. "Raising Sand" wins best contemporary/folk Americana album. That gives Radiohead and Plant/Krauss one win each so far. Best alternative album, where Radiohead is nominated, should be up within the hour, and the Lil Wayne rap sweep should start momentarily.

3:13 p.m.: B.B. King wins for best traditional blues, and Dr. John wins for best contemporary blues. Grammy will have an extensive blues segment this evening, with a Bo Diddley tribute.

3:10 p.m.: Grammy denies Mayer a second time tonight, giving the award for best long form music video to Tom Petty's "Runnin' Down A Dream."

3:08 p.m.: Best short form music video: Weezer's YouTube-obsessed "Pork & Beans."

3:07 p.m.: Blair Underwood, informing us that the pre-show is "running long." This doesn't foretell good things to come.

2:56 p.m.: There's going to be weird in-and-out rush to the red carpet shortly. Since most of the awards are handed out in the pre-show, all the artists need to be in the Staples Center when their category is called. The pre-show will end around 4 p.m. with the R&B, pop and rock fields, at which point all the celebs will rush outside the Staples Center to do the press line, and then head back in to take their seats by 4:45 p.m.

2:45 p.m. After a brief intermission in which Heavy D performed -- pre-show only, Mr. D! -- the Grammys are back to giving out the awards. Up next are classical and blues, and then we'll head into country and the pop categories.

2:35 p.m.: Hmmm. Something fishy? Jimmy Jam is speaking, telling us that Recording Academy head Neil Portnow can't because he's still planning for tonight's show. That probably has something to do with the 2:24 p.m. update, and we're still awaiting info.

But when it came to announcing how much money was raised on Friday night at the MusiCares event honoring Neil Diamond (read the review), Jimmy Jam got vague. He reported that the charitable arm of the Recording Academy raised "millions of dollars for the vital mission of MusiCares." Usually, we get a more specific number, such as $4.5 million, which was raised last year.

2:31 p.m.: In the dance/electronic field, Daft Punk swept, winning for best dance recording for "Harder Better Faster Stronger" and best electronic/dance album for "Alive 2007." Sigh. We like Daft Punk and all, especially their Grammy performance last year with Kanye West. But really? A live album? Over a new album from the Brazilian Girls? Or Moby's under-appreciated "Last Night"? Grammy voters went with the name they knew, not the best album, and we are now starting the ban-the-live-album-from-Grammy-consideration campaign.

2:24 p.m.: FromEntertainment Weekly: Rihanna has canceled her Grammy performance tonight after being in a car accident. More info as we have it.

2:21 p.m.: Best gospel performance goes to "Get Up" from Mary Mary. Sorry Mariah, who was wrongly nominated for her contribution ("I Understand") to that "Randy Jackson's Music Club" thing.

2:15 p.m.: There's confusion at the pre-show. Is Terence Blanchard in the room to accept his Grammy for best jazz instrumental solo? He is, and we're onto best jazz instrumental album.

2;12 p.m.: Seventy-six more awards to go! Cassandra Wilson just won best jazz vocal album.

2:11 p.m. Best contemporary jazz album went to Randy Brecker, "Randy in Brasil."

2:07 p.m.: Best comedy album went to George Carlin. George's daughter Kelly is accepting. "I was hoping to get through this without crying ... I promise to take care of this better than my dad did." Apparently, George, in a "chemically-induced altered state," took apart his first Grammy (in 1972). Carlin passed away last June.

2:02 p.m.: UPDATE: So here's something that's nice about the Grammy pre-show. It reminds that some music genres even exist. Take zydeco, for instance. “Live At The 2008 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival,” BeauSoleil & Michael Doucet won. Earlier, we had the similarly-titled album from Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys winning, and we apologize for the error.

1:53 p.m.: The pre-show apparently wasn't moving fast enough. It was just announced that artists-only are allowed to give acceptance speeches.

1:51 p.m.: Best latin pop album goes to Juanes.

1:41 p.m.: We haven't gotten to any rap or rock categories yet, but so far, Radiohead is the only album of the year-nominated artist to snare an award. That's not necessarily a foreshadowing of anything to come. Most of our experts have Plant/Krauss winning the top prize, and the kids at Gold Derby are pickingColdplay as spoilers. Grammy has gone out of its way to make a more exciting, younger-skewing show this year, bringing in Radiohead, M.I.A., Katy Perry, Estelle, Adele, Miley and Taylor and plenty of others into its performing lineup, but few some to think that newfound awareness will carry over to the actual awards.

1:39 p.m.: Grammy is updating all its winners on its Twitter feed, for those interested in a pure stream of winners, or those who want 110 Twitter updates over the next 8 hours.

1:37 p.m.: French electronic faves Justice were not on hand to accept their best remixed recording award. They won for MGMT remix "Electric Feel."

1:30 p.m.: Radiohead gets it first award of the night! Best boxed/limited edition package goes to "In Rainbows," an album that was released in varying tiers, including pay-what-you want model. Robert Plant & Alison Krauss may still take album of the year, but Radiohead has them bested in the marketing arena.

1:27 p.m.: And in perhaps a preview of the Oscars, "Wall-E's" "Down to Earth" wins best motion picture, TV, visual media song. Note that it bested John Mayer's "Say," meaning that in Grammy-land, Peter Gabriel is still greater than Mayer, one of the few artists who still has that power.

1:23 p.m.: Only 109 awards to go, folks. Number of medleys still to be determined.

1:22 p.m.: FIRST WINNER: Best compilation soundtrack album goes to "Juno." Next year, this is all you, "Slumdog."

1:20 p.m.: So the pre-show: 100 awards will be presented. That leaves 10 to be given out on the air. Brady noted that 60 of the pre-show winners will be Lil Wayne. He didn't add that all 60 should have gone to Lupe Fiasco.

1:15 p.m.: Tia Carrere & Daniel Ho are performing. Carrere and Wayne Brady will be hosting, and Brady is just about to perform his "A Change is Gonna Come," nominated for best traditional R&B vocal performance. A moment ago, Recording Academy chairman/famed producer Jimmy Jam noted that the pre-show telecast will still online for a few weeks.

1:10 p.m.: A little light-jazz, courtesy of the Larry Batiste pre-telecast band, is getting the proceedings underway -- nothing too crazy for those who partied too late at the Clive Davis pre-Grammy gala last night. Lila Downs is performing "Black Magic Woman." It is unknown if there is free orange juice, muffins and/or an omelet bar at the Staples Center.

12:50 p.m.: In about eight hours, Radiohead's "In Rainbow" will have been named album of the year, rocketing the Grammys back to relevance. OK, so that probably won't happen, but we do know that Miley Cyrus and Taylor Swift will sing a duet (they're pictured above at rehearsals), and in about 30 minutes we should know who won best compilation soundtrack album.

That's right! It's brunch at the Grammys, which are happening at the Staples Center, a few blocks down the street from the Los Angeles Times HQ. For those interested in watching it, head to Grammy.com, which will be streaming the pre-show starting at 1 p.m. Or stay tuned to Pop & Hiss, and we'll let you know any major winners/news from the non-televised portion of the Grammys, amidst other Grammy ramblings.